Eratio


 

 

 

Scale

for Gregory Vincent St. Thomasino

 

 

Jake Berry

 

 

 

 

1

 

If we have been in that house

   it is no longer a house

  but a field

 

charged

resonant

 

mound

& stone

 

after Beth-el

a dream like lightning

 

unkempt in all his ways

 

These are the vestments

Triune

Polyphonic

 

a cradle

made of voices

 

a cradle

before the interruption

(before the incision)

of glass

 

 

 

 

2

 

If it begins

it begins

in a wound

 

& graceless stumbling

 

across a bed of silence

 

grotesque

until she comes into focus

 

 

 

 

3

 

everything crucified

and torn apart

 

         of sudden, terrible beauty

         a crimson light

 

is an occasion

to rejoice

 

 

 

 

4

 

out from – sheltering

as the lungs

across the bed

toward zero    (face to face)

 

This is our habitation

 

to visit

along the way

 

dust on our

         rags

 

 

 

 

5

 

[discovered]

a femur

a pelvis

 

a shoulder blade

 

         upon which

         inscribed in Greek

        (as was the Orphic inclination):

 

         body     σμα       soma

         water    δωρ        hudor

         spirit     πνεμα    pneuma

 

an octave apart

 

a spike in the earth

 

 

 

 

6

 

of number

there is only

 

a chasm

 

of every form

emptying

 

 

 

 

7

 

The word

has shaken us

free

 

with an essential,

forbidden

summoning

 

more than knowledge

more than life

 

a music

one step beyond

 

 

 

 

— 3.19.17

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jake Berry is a poet, musician and visual artist.  His work has appeared in a wide variety of publications for more than three decades.  Books include Brambu Drezi, Species of Abandoned Light and Drafts of the Sorcery.  Recordings include Liminal Blue, Wilderness and Grace and Mystery Songs.  He lives with his wife Bridget and four cats in Florence, AL.  amazon.com/author/jakeberry  jakeberry.bandcamp.com 

 

 


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